Hawzah News Agency-Last week it was revealed that the parents of a German teenager who refused to let their son visit a local mosque as part of a school trip may appear in court for “truancy”.

Earlier this year, the parents had been issued a £270 fine from the local education authority, after they stopped their 13-year-old son from going on the geography field trip in the northern German town of Rendsburg in Kiel.

The couple appealed the fine, and were last week informed that the case would be referred to a prosecutor's office to decide whether they would be taken to court.

But now, the Kiel Ministry of Education has ruled that a trip to a mosque is a mandatory part of the lessons, according to German media.

The Ministry also decreed that children cannot sit in a different class while the rest of their own class is on the trip, which is designed to give children an insight into Muslim society.

The parents who originally sparked the debate said they don't belong to any religious group, and cited "ideological reasons" for their decision, claiming they were worried their son could become "indoctrinated" by the trip.

Meanwhile, the school's principal, Renate Fritzsche, said no exceptions could be made to Germany's mandatory education laws.

In an interview with a German broadcaster, she said: "We also have Muslim children with us and Muslim parents also know that there are no exceptions."

She said that part of education's goal, is to teach children about other cultures so they will be able to interact and tolerate them.

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